Michigan AG Nessel Blasts “White Folks” Over Golf

Michigan AG Nessel Blasts “White Folks” Over Golf

On Tuesday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel took to the twitterverse to blast “white folks outraged because they can’t go golfing.”

I just can’t hear about one more black health care worker, police officer or bus driver die while getting barrage of complaints from white folks outraged because they can’t go golfing.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel on Twitter, April 7, 2020.

Nessel’s rant is the sort of mean, politically poisoned diatribe over which leftists like Nessel spend much time blasting President Trump. In my mind, she clearly was trying to make a racial issue out of golf to score political points. Welcome to the Trumpverse, Nessel.

There is so much wrong with this tweet.

Nessel could simply have written: As long as there are people dying from coronavirus, I just can’t discuss golf.

A statement such a that would have been clean, and mostly uncontroversial. All reasonable people understand that lives take precedence over games. Instead, Nessel chose to create a racial issue where none was warranted.

In making race a condition of her argument, Nessel opened an entirely different line of discussion. It is not the sort of thing I would expect from someone who claims to be qualified to be the state’s top lawyer.

Now, rather than debating the merits of golf in a plague, the argument is about whether golf is a “white folks” activity. Since Nessel made that grade school mistake, I’ll take advantage of it.

Golf is most decidedly not an activity exclusively for “white folks” and in making that declaration, she shows her ignorance, while invalidating her own argument.

I invite Nessel to visit my home course — a muni — when she finally decides that “white folks” can play again. What Nessel will find is a course where people of all colors, identities and persuasions come together to enjoy the game. I’ve never done a survey, but my guess is that most are tradesmen, line workers, contractors and other folk that work for a living (or are retired from working for a living).

Detroit has three public courses, which provide residents with clean spaces, fresh air and outdoor recreation. By her logic, those are the exclusive domain of “white folks” as well (For what it’s worth, Rouge Park, Rackham and Chandler Park are all worth playing).

Golf is not a sport confined to Nessel’s hated “white folks.” It is a sport for people who are friends for 18 holes, regardless of their backgrounds. As Harvey Penick said: If you play golf, you are my friend.

Golf is a $4 billion dollar industry in Michigan. There are more than 600 public courses in Michigan. Are they all the playthings of Nessel’s stereotypical “white folks?” That is not my experience. I usually play as a single, and as such am routinely paired with others. More often than not, we end up as a diverse group. (Actually, we always end up as a diverse group, as I am a card-carrying Native American).

On a different point, I will argue that caring about lives and caring about golf are not the mutually exclusive concept that Nessel suggests.

Mrs. GolfBlogger is an Air Force Veteran who goes to work each day as a nurse at the University of Michigan Hospital. I care deeply about her safety, my family’s safety and about the welfare of the people in my community. Indeed, as a teacher, I have dedicated my life to the service of others at a not-insignificant cost to both my family and myself. I could have made much more money on my previous career trajectory as a lobbyist.

I care about the people in my community, but also care about golf. For golfers such as myself, the sport is as much about physical and mental well-being as anything. I play golf for many of the same reasons that people run. Every time I walk the course (which in better times is at least three times a week), I clock five to six miles. It is both exercise and relief from stress.

Sidewalks, trails and parks right now are jammed with walkers, bikers and runners. I await Nessel’s decision that walking and running are banned. Those people are not indoors and are well within touching distance. Perhaps the difference is that Nessel does not see walking and running as the private preserve of her despised “white people.”

In one sense, though, Nessel’s uninformed, inflamatory tweet did golfers a favor. She let us know what she thinks about Michigan’s golfers and golf industry: that they are all a bunch of uncaring “white folks.”

From Nessel’s racially charged tweet, it is pretty obvious that she is not going to let Michigan’s courses open any time soon. Nothing for “white folk” from Nessel’s office will be forthcoming.

Nessel’s Trumpian tweet was an astounding act of political skullduggery and tone-deafness. She should be ashamed of herself, and should either apologize or resign. If she can’t be the Attorney General for ALL of Michigan’s citizens, she should be Attorney General for none.